is it blogging or flogging?

[gkg]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&ncid=528&e=1&u=/ap/20050121/ap_on_hi_te/blogger_ethics

i knew there was a lot of BS on some blogs - but i had no idea it was so common to just flat out pay people to flog your product on their blogs!!

i pose an open question to y\'all - should there be ethics associated with blogs, or should it be left to everyone to decifer what is real from what is a con job?

[spencer]

Considering a blog is on the internet, and ethics is nowhere to be found on the internet (except ebay and veritable online stores), i\'m going to say no because it\'s a task of impossibility.

[gkg]

i\'m not espousing an opinion either way, but i will say that there are more ethics used than you cite.  Travis for example, seems VERY ethical in the management of his site.  his ethics are displayed in many ways here; if you read his postings about changing the board, etc one can see it clearly.  i think there are many more independent people using ethics in their management of sites daily - the question is should there be an expected code of ethics for blogs.  

would there be merit to having a code one can cite if one wants to initiate a boycott of a particular blog or to commend a particular blog?  or does the very nature of freedom within the internet preclude that?  do the rules applied to freedom of speech in other areas of our lives apply here or is it a free-for-all?

[spencer]

It was a joke, GKG.  I just suck at them